Measuring patient acuity and nursing care needs in South Korea: application of a new patient classification system.

Background: An accurate and reliable patient classification system (PCS) can help inform decisions regarding adequate assignments for nurse staffing. This study aimed to evaluate the criterion validity of the Asan Patient Classification System (APCS), a new tertiary hospital-specific PCS, by comparing its rating and total scores with those of KPCS-1 and KPCS-GW for measuring patient activity and nursing needs.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of the medical records of 50,314 inpatients admitted to the general wards of a tertiary teaching hospital in Seoul, South Korea in March, June, September, and December 2019.

[Willingness to Use and Appropriate Payable Cost for Visiting Nurse Service for the Elderly in the Community].

Purpose: This study aimed to measure willingness to use (WTU) and appropriate payable cost of visiting nurse service for the elderly and explore their impact factors.

Methods: The study included 752 participants selected from data that were completed in 2017 for the elderly aged over 60 nationwide. Logit and Tobit regression analysis were performed to confirm the influencing factors.

Polymer Stereocomplexation as a Scalable Platform for Nanoparticle Assembly.

DNA-mediated assembly of inorganic particles has demonstrated to be a powerful approach for preparing nanomaterials with a range of interesting optical and electrical properties. Building on this inspiration, we describe a generalizable gram-scale method to assemble nanoparticles through the formation of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) triple-helices. In this work, alkene-terminated (-) and (-) PMMA polymers were prepared and subsequently functionalized to afford nanoparticle ligands.

Designing with Light: Advanced 2D, 3D, and 4D Materials.

Recent achievements and future opportunities for the design of 2D, 3D, and 4D materials using photochemical reactions are summarized. Light is an attractive stimulus for material design due to its outstanding spatiotemporal control, and its ability to mediate rapid polymerization under moderate reaction temperatures. These features have been significantly enhanced by major advances in light generation/manipulation with light-emitting diodes and optical fiber technologies which now allows for a broad range of cost-effective fabrication protocols.

The Importance of Salt-Enhanced Electrostatic Repulsion in Colloidal Crystal Engineering with DNA.

Realizing functional colloidal single crystals requires precise control over nanoparticles in three dimensions across multiple size regimes. In this regard, colloidal crystallization with programmable atom equivalents (PAEs) composed of DNA-modified nanoparticles allows one to program in a sequence-specific manner crystal symmetry, lattice parameter, and, in certain cases, crystal habit. Here, we explore how salt and the electrostatic properties of DNA regulate the attachment kinetics between PAEs.

Non-equilibrium anisotropic colloidal single crystal growth with DNA.

Anisotropic colloidal crystals are materials with novel optical and electronic properties. However, experimental observations of colloidal single crystals have been limited to relatively isotropic habits. Here, we show DNA-mediated crystallization of two types of nanoparticles with different hydrodynamic radii that form highly anisotropic, hexagonal prism microcrystals with AB crystallographic symmetry.

Lattice Mismatch in Crystalline Nanoparticle Thin Films.

For atomic thin films, lattice mismatch during heteroepitaxy leads to an accumulation of strain energy, generally causing the films to irreversibly deform and generate defects. In contrast, more elastically malleable building blocks should be better able to accommodate this mismatch and the resulting strain. Herein, that hypothesis is tested by utilizing DNA-modified nanoparticles as "soft," programmable atom equivalents to grow a heteroepitaxial colloidal thin film.

The Role of Repulsion in Colloidal Crystal Engineering with DNA.

Hybridization interactions between DNA-functionalized nanoparticles (DNA-NPs) can be used to program the crystallization behavior of superlattices, yielding access to complex three-dimensional structures with more than 30 different lattice symmetries. The first superlattice structures using DNA-NPs as building blocks were identified almost a decade ago, yet the role of repulsive interactions in guiding structure formation is still largely unexplored. Here, a comprehensive approach is taken to study the role of repulsion in the assembly behavior of DNA-NPs, enabling the calculation of interparticle interaction potentials based on experimental results.

Altering DNA-Programmable Colloidal Crystallization Paths by Modulating Particle Repulsion.

Colloidal crystal engineering with DNA can be used to realize precise control over nanoparticle (NP) arrangement. Here, we investigate a case of DNA-based assembly where the properties of DNA as a polyelectrolyte brush are employed to alter a hybridization-driven NP crystallization pathway. Using the coassembly of DNA-conjugated proteins and spherical gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as a model system, we explore how steric repulsion between noncomplementary, neighboring NPs due to overlapping DNA shells can influence their ligand-directed behavior.

Epitaxy: Programmable Atom Equivalents Versus Atoms.

The programmability of DNA makes it an attractive structure-directing ligand for the assembly of nanoparticle (NP) superlattices in a manner that mimics many aspects of atomic crystallization. However, the synthesis of multilayer single crystals of defined size remains a challenge. Though previous studies considered lattice mismatch as the major limiting factor for multilayer assembly, thin film growth depends on many interlinked variables.

Cancer-specific incidence rates of tuberculosis: A 5-year nationwide population-based study in a country with an intermediate tuberculosis burden.

Population-based studies of the incidence of tuberculosis in cancer patients according to the type of cancer are limited. We investigated the cancer-specific incidence of tuberculosis in a nationwide population-based cohort in a country with an intermediate burden of tuberculosis.We used mandatory National Health Insurance claims data to construct a cancer cohort of adults (aged 20-99 years) with newly diagnosed malignancies other than lung cancer, from January 2008 to December 2012.

Modulating the Bond Strength of DNA-Nanoparticle Superlattices.

A method is introduced for modulating the bond strength in DNA-programmable nanoparticle (NP) superlattice crystals. This method utilizes noncovalent interactions between a family of [Ru(dipyrido[2,3-a:3',2'-c]phenazine)(N-N)2](2+)-based small molecule intercalators and DNA duplexes to postsynthetically modify DNA-NP superlattices. This dramatically increases the strength of the DNA bonds that hold the nanoparticles together, thereby making the superlattices more resistant to thermal degradation.

Duplex-selective ruthenium-based DNA intercalators.

We report the design and synthesis of small molecules that exhibit enhanced luminescence in the presence of duplex rather than single-stranded DNA. The local environment presented by a well-known [Ru(dipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine)L2 ](2+) -based DNA intercalator was modified by functionalizing the bipyridine ligands with esters and carboxylic acids. By systematically varying the number and charge of the pendant groups, it was determined that decreasing the electrostatic interaction between the intercalator and the anionic DNA backbone reduced single-strand interactions and translated to better duplex specificity.

Naloxone induces endoplasmic reticulum stress in PC12 cells.

Naloxone is an opioid inverse agonist used in the treatment of opiate overdose, with well known pharmacology. In the present study, we determined the effects of naloxone on the unfolded protein response (UPR) in PC12 cells. Data from a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay indicated that naloxone may accelerate PC12 cell apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner.

Biofeedback therapy for female patients with constipation caused by radical hysterectomy or vaginal delivery.

Background And Aim: Chronic constipation is frequently seen in women who have undergone hysterectomy or delivery. However, reports regarding anorectal physiologic features in those patients are rare. Patients with constipation associated with either radical hysterectomy or vaginal delivery were analyzed in order to clarify the anorectal physiologic features and the effectiveness of biofeedback therapy.

Pulmonary thromboembolism in a patient with myotonic dystrophy type 1.

Thromboembolism is a rare complication in patients with myotonic dystrophy. While immobilization of patients with advanced disease predisposes to high risk for venous thromboembolism, hypercoagulability could account for venous thromboembolism in patients without impaired mobilization. We report a patient with myotonic dystrophy type 1 who developed pulmonary thromboembolism unrelated to immobilization.

Burden of ischemic stroke in Korea: analysis of disability-adjusted life years lost.

Background And Purpose: Disability-adjusted life years (DALY), incorporating both disability and mortality, has been widely employed to measure regional and global burdens of stroke. Thus far, the DALY lost to stroke in a population has been estimated using only the crude population-level data; no previous study has incorporated refined data from stroke registries. The aim of this study was to integrate the stroke registry data and the population-level incidence data to project the nationwide DALY lost to ischemic stroke.

Nonmotor symptoms in de novo Parkinson disease before and after dopaminergic treatment.

Background: Nonmotor symptoms (NMSs) are common in patients with Parkinson disease (PD), but little is known about the burden of the full range of NMSs in de novo PD patients.

Objectives: NMSs in untreated de novo PD patients were evaluated both quantitatively and qualitatively using the Non-Motor Symptoms Assessment Scale (NMSS); the findings were compared to those of control subjects. The effects of dopaminergic treatment on NMSs were also determined.

Mutations at codons 178, 200-129, and 232 contributed to the inherited prion diseases in Korean patients.

Background: Polymorphisms of the human prion protein gene (PRNP) contribute to the genetic determinants of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). Numerous polymorphisms in the promoter regions as well as the open reading frame of PRNP were investigated. Greater than 90% of Korean, Chinese, and Japanese carry the homozygote 129 MM codon.

Intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator thrombolysis in a patient with acute ischemic stroke secondary to aortic dissection.

Background: Acute ischemic stroke secondary to aortic dissection (AoD) is challenging in the era of thrombolysis owing to the diagnostic difficulty within a narrow time window and the high risk of complications.

Case Report: A 64-year-old woman with middle cerebral artery occlusion syndrome admitted to the emergency room within intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) time window. Her neurological symptoms improved during thrombolysis, but chest and abdominal pain developed.

Recurrent emotion-triggered headache following primary headache associated with sexual activity.

We present a 44-year-old woman who was admitted to our hospital after three episodes of coital headache. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and angiography (MRA) revealed no vascular abnormality. She was discharged with a diagnosis of primary headache associated with sexual activity (PHSA).